A Fallen Phoenix
by queenb48
Summary: After being bought down by a missle, the young Tracy is left terrified of everything. Can his Dad bring him back as the family build the foundtions of IR? Rated for use of language.


_wowww... it's been a while! Nearly two years in fact! But, I do have several stories in the pipeline; two of which are a good 15 chapters long. For now though, I've written a 'break' story. Now college has finished, I have no reason but to concentrate on these stories! Be sure to tell me what you think! Thanks for reading! -queenb48_

**A Fallen Phoenix**

Eyes cracked half open, jaw hanging carelessly as the same horrors filtered through his mind. He looked at the floor, not finding anything else in the bland white room interesting. The room itself was partially empty, with no more than a window on one wall allowing little if any sunlight in, a locked door on the other with his name written on the entering side and a hospital bed against the third. Nothing could have cheered the place up; the irony that the place was called Willow Riverbank Hospital encouraged nothing more than dead emotion.

The young brunette's eyes looked slowly up to the door as it opened, not expecting anyone other than usual. With the person being an often visitor, he lowered his head as he perched on the chair. A sweet voice cut through the heavy room as a young nurse swept her way across the room, and over to the window pull back the curtains,

"Good morning sweetheart" she tweeted merrily.

As per usual, as like every day from the moment he arrived; he said nothing. He wouldn't reply to even an angel who he'd known since pre-school. The nurse's name was Kelly Jones, a sweet young girl from Kansas who rarely ever left his side when they were young. But when The Tracy took to the sky's he left behind the best thing he'd ever come across. Still, she would gracefully glide across the room and act as though it was all a dream. The Tracy however couldn't ever forget the pain and torture he went through. The dark harrowing nightmare would haunt him forever.

During a standard fly over of the Sahara Desert, the F-16 Falcon jet with two others in tow was monitoring the sands and small towns scattered amongst the yellow barren wasteland. It was a glorious afternoon with the sun rolling high in the skies and wasn't due to set anytime soon; when another, slightly smaller fireball came hurdling towards the jets. It was locked and pulled down one of the jets, with the other one not long afterwards exploding mid-air. The last jet flying was darting in and out of the self-exploding bombs being thrown up from the ground. At lightening-break speed, the young pilot manoeuvred with precision between the missiles; unfortunately he couldn't miss them all.

He was hit.

He lost all control of the craft, as he desperately tried to turn it away from a small village approaching quickly in his sight. With sirens going off in his ears and desperately calling 'mayday', he had to hit the eject button. He was sucked out the stricken bird with the wind pulling open his parachute, as he panted for breath in the dry air. Just when he thought he was safe as he watched the jet crash into a sand dune, he eyed people on the ground; preparing guns. Desperately trying to turn his parachute away from them, they started shooting; and he was hit. He looked down to his leg to see it was only a dart penetrating his fly suit. He landed in the hot sand and pulled the dart from his leg. As he was examining it, he felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him as he collapsed to his knees. The scorching desert sun held him down until he completely passed out.

The Tracy awoke in a humid, dusty dungeon, shocked to be alive; surrounded by men dressed in head scarves with tanned faces starring angrily at him. They talked amongst themselves in Arabic and all fell silent when they looked at the Tracy again,

"You American deserve death for trespassing; this is our land and concerns none of you"

The brunette refused to give the terrorists any satisfaction with an answer, but was struggling to keep a calm head,

"You just shot me out of the sky! With a bloody missile that should've killed me and your given me this? I think I have a right to be flying over somewhere that technically belongs to America"

The men laughed. And the Tracy's temper started to rise, but couldn't move after being strapped down. The men came closer, as one of the more important looking men step forward. The leader as he appeared, spoke with a relatively clear English-spoken voice,

"Sir, I will pull a gun to your head now, kill you and happily sleep tonight knowing I rid of American scum that think they have ownership over everything. Your name soldier, so at least I can kill you with some dignity intact"

The red-face Tracy didn't want to give in, and felt pressure building on him; not for his life, but also that of his country. He knew the only way out would be to exchange information to live,

"Private Tracy, cadet pilot for the American Air force"

A few more laughs were provided from the faceless clothed men, as they all started dividing and starting to do different jobs; the leader didn't move from in front of the brunette and smiled smugly,

"Private Tracy, you make me sick. Your country makes me sick. Now, tell me; what's worth your living self? Do you have a wife? Family?"

"No" lied the captive,

"No?! Then we are more alike than you realise, except you killed my family. You and your country in unnecessary bloodshed! Why did you join the air force Private Tracy?"

"Why should I answer to you?" with this answer, the Tracy was given a sharp blow to the stomach. He doubled-over and with jaggered breathing listened to the leaders words,

"Because I have control over your fate at this current point in time; so I'll ask politely again, why did you join the air force? It's a simple question and all I want is a simple answer" The leader slowly questioned,

"I wanted to be a pilot from a young age, it was a dream that I wouldn't allow to die"

The leader nodded, intrigued by the answer,

"That was all I asked for; a simple answer" He stood and walked away with a smug expression, whilst talking to his accomplices in Arabic. They would all be doing something around the small room whilst the Tracy sat there, not saying a word. He was finally approached by the Leader once more,

"You're going to have fun with us here; you've got a lot to answer for Tracy"

As the 26 year watched the sun flick in-between the branches of a tree outside blowing in the wind through the window, he listened to the cooing of Kelly's voice,

"Oh sweetie, I wish you'd just open up. It would help you so much and it'll get you back to civilisation quicker"

He continued watching the outside world as the blonde walked around the room sorting things here and there. She wasn't expecting an answer, as she'd kept her hopes up for the past year; and hadn't gotten anything. She left without a word.

His tired eyes watched leaves falling from the tree as they swirled and danced in the gentle autumn breeze. It reminded him of the ordeal once more, the drifting leaves resembling that of bits of aircraft falling out of the sky; it was hard to open up about everything, it had all been such a horrific time he'd spent in the hot desert. He had scares from where he'd been tortured for answers, burns from not answering quickly enough and stitches from cuts previously left open ready for acid to be poured into them. Never had he thought that the human kind could be so cruel to its own species. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. It had to be a visitor, Kelly, the doctors and other nurses just walked in, knowing they wouldn't receive a call asking them in. He wondered to the door and just held the handle, unsure as to whether or not he should open it. He held it stiffly as he listened to the two familiar voices the other side,

"Do you think he's asleep?"

"No, he never sleeps in the afternoon"

He opened the door slowly and looked the two people in the eyes emotionlessly before turning round and sitting back onto the chair he'd previously been sat on. The two entered the room,

"Hey Scott, how are you doing?" Another brunette asked,

"Look Scott, father sent us in here to tell you something important; as he thought you might listen to us"

Scott didn't move at all and didn't want to look at his brothers, both of whom had sat around the room looking directly at him hoping for a reaction,

"Scott, he's going ahead with International Rescue" Virgil said, still seeing no motion from his eldest sibling,

"He wants you to be Commander Scott; he wants you to head it all up alongside him and pilot Thunderbird 1"

This coming from John really did mean something. It meant there was no joking in anything he said,

"John I think we should leave, we shouldn't have told him so soon-"

"No"

John and Virgil looked at each other to confirm that neither had spoken, and then looked to Scott. He stood and looked at his brothers,

"Is he here?" Scott's dried voice had spoken in front of others again for the first time in a year and a half,

"Scott, you're talking!" John said almost speechless himself,

"Is Dad here?" Scott asked again,

"Yes!" John quickly jumped and ran for the door, skipping as he did.

He flew down the corridor and into a small waiting room where Jeff sat waiting for his two sons to return, panic stuck him when only one returned out of breath,

"DAD!"

"What is it John? Is everything ok?"

"Better! He spoke!" John breathlessly said,

Jeff looked excitedly confused at John's words; he stood slowly and held onto John,

"Are you sure son?"

"He asked for you Dad"

Jeff nodded and started walking slowly towards Scott's room, leaving John behind. He walked up to the door and read his sons name on it, before entering slowly. He saw Scott standing with his back to the window and Virgil sat in the chair, it was normally the other way round. He nodded to Scott and asked Virgil to leave; he did so quickly,

"You wanted to speak to me son?" Jeff asked unhopefully, but felt an immense change in the atmosphere of the room,

"International Rescue was a fable you'd tell me every night as a bedtime story"

"You're talking; I can't tell you how much this means"

"I've spoken before, this is nothing new; but this news is" Scott dryly added,

"Well son, I always intended for it to go ahead; you always seemed keen on it becoming a reality, I want it for all you boys"

"But you want me to command them?"

A silence dawned in the room; nothing from the normal for the four walls. Jeff knew Scott would have an objection to the whole situation, but really wanted him to re-live the passion he had as a kid,

"International Recue was never a fable Scott, and I want you to be the amazing pilot that you are and always have been. I want you to command a team that will be saving those worldwide; like those who rescued you"

Scott shook his head feeling anger growing inside his stomach,

"I'm not doing it. I've had over a year to think about everything, and believe me this occurred a number of times; being it the last thing I ever spoke about to you. I couldn't help but repeat the dangers my younger brothers will be in; what if they get shot down too? Who will rescue the rescuers? I can't have their deaths on my conscience; I already have my teams, my friends on it"

"Before the accident son-"

"It wasn't a bloody accident! Don't ever say that! They shot my craft down and tortured me for three-hundred and ninety days! That was no fucking accident!"

Jeff stood unnerved at the sheer acceleration in Scott's attitude. He shut the door completely trying to divert any attention drawn and sat down as Scott walked up and down the room rubbing his tired eyes,

"I just can't" Scott continued softening his tone, "Please Dad, I just can't; I'm not ready"

"Scott, I know you're not. I'm not expecting you to be, but I know you're a great Commander; and I can't have your brother's going out without you. I'll take it at your pace"

"You just don't get it Dad" Scott scrunched his hands into fists, "I don't think I can ever face something like that again, and doing this will mean there's a chance for it to happen all over again; expect this time it could be Alan"

"The boys are ready to go, they want to help people Scott; and I know that's always been your dream too"

The silence dawned again, with Jeff getting ready to leave and Scott wanting to punch a wall; within quick succession he did. Jeff was quick to his side as Scott regretted his act as his hand started to throb. Jeff looked at it before hugging his eldest son closely; he hadn't had the chance in the past few years knowing his son would be embarrassed. Jeff pulled away and looked at his broken son, but knew he'd heal soon with his family around more,

"I know your terrified Scott, but you need to look beyond this all now. It's in the past, and I know the ten year old I told this story to, still wants it to be real. No matter what's thrown at you, I know you can be great. Your Scott Tracy; the man who never gave up on anything"

Scott huffed silently, "the first day that they ever took me; they asked me why I wanted to be a pilot"

"What did you say son?" Jeff asked curiously,

"I said because it was a dream I had had since being a kid; and I wasn't willing to let it die"

Jeff smiled knowingly and embraced Scott once more and turned to walk out the door as Scott turned and looked out the window. He was greeted by Virgil coming in the other way,

"Wait" Scott called,

Virgil still amazed Scott was talking look to Jeff,

"Scott?" Jeff responded hopefully,

"It's always been a dream to fly that silver bird you'd always talk about. Your right, it's what I want, it's what I've wanted since being ten years old; I want to be Commander for International Rescue"


End file.
